Stupid Serendipity
by I Will Make You Rebel
Summary: Futuristic and sort of AU; She wasn't looking for anything good, Tori Vega is contented with her life. She thought what she had was already the best. But one person, the right person, can change her perspective. And that's exactly what Jade West did - in only a matter of seconds. Is serendipity playing a part in their story?


Twenty-five year old Tori Vega did not know what was wrong with her today. Everything seemed to go wrong. She had gotten up too late and had therefore not managed to catch the bus she had told herself to take. She had rushed out of the flat she shared with her boyfriend for three years, Beck Oliver, in a vain attempt to actually make it – which she hadn't , of course, and she had walked back to her apartment, only to realize that it was a good thing she hadn't caught the bus because she was wearing two different shoes and no shirt beneath her zip-down jacket. Not to mention that she hadn't brushed her teeth, hadn't done her makeup, hadn't showered and hadn't had a thing for breakfast.

After locking herself into the apartment again, she found a change of clothes and went to take a hot shower. She couldn't even explain why taking the other bus was so important since she actually had all the time in the world. _Really. _She was in no rush at all. It was Thursday and she didn't have work. Beck has practice this morning and straight after he was going to meet his best friend, Andre, who was getting married to his high school girlfriend, Katherine Lee, on Sunday, and they had a lot of things they needed to take care of, so there was no telling when he would be home.

_It's quite fine anyway, _Tori mused to herself as she stepped into the hot shower, immediately letting the water cascade down her back and drench her hair. It wasn't that she didn't want to see Beck, because that was far from it, but sometimes she just really needed time to herself. The only thing that was on her agenda today was to pamper herself – that was why she wanted to get to the mall early. What better place than the mall for pampering? She also had planned to buy herself few new outfits includine a new dress for the wedding on Sunday, get her nails done and stuff like that. She wouldn't know what time she'd be home, so it was wonderful that Beck wouldn't be expecting dinner.

Tori rinsed out her shampoo and quickly reached for the bottle with conditioner as she hummed softly to herself. She had always loved singing and it had come in handy for her. She wouldn't have met Beck if they hadn't both loved to sing. She knew it sounded crazy but they met at a local karaoke bar, probably not the most romantic place to meet someone you'd eventually fall in love with but, that night at the bar, and hearing Beck sing was _something. _

Meeting Beck was definitely a love at first sight scenario. It was really weird since Tori had never had a serious relationship or anything before Beck. Her relationships with her previous boyfriends didn't last longer than a month or two. But with Beck, she instantly felt a connection of some sort, something that felt really good and they started dating pretty quickly after their first meeting. Things blossomed from there and now, surprising Tori, they had been together for three years, were living together and they had a nice relationship.

Tori turned the water off and stepped onto the cold tiles, reaching for a towel to dry her with. She bent her head and started drying her long hair while she wondered about herself and Beck. She was pretty content with their relationship, they were good, they were, but she… she was, well, kind of bored at times. She felt like she hadn't really done the things she wanted to. And she hated being stuck here in California. She got a lot of great job offers from around the world and surely she would love to explore each of them. She just wasn't sure how to tell Beck. She knew they would never make a long-distance relationship; there was no way they could handle that, they weren't strong enough and Beck won't go for it – he would break things off with her and she really wasn't ready to lose him. She wasn't even sure if a job was worth losing him for, she was just… curious.

When Tori was done drying her hair off, she stood up and stared at herself in the slightly fogged mirror. Her eyes scanned her entire body, from the collarbone, down her breast, to her hips, to the center between her legs. She had never had much fat on her body but she wasn't that skinny either. She turned to stand with her side facing the mirror and lifted up her breast slightly. They were alright too. Making a face, she dropped them again and reached for the towel yet another time to dry off her body.

When she was dressed, Tori went into the kitchen again to make some coffee. She decided to take her time now. It didn't matter which bus she caught – she'd have all the time in the world anyway. She found a note on the table from Beck, telling her that he would probably get pizza with Andre since Katherine had a meeting with one of her friends about music for their wedding; two of their high school friends had started up a band that played for weddings, birthdays, anniversaries and so on. They would be the entertainment at the Harris-Lee wedding while also being on the guest list.

Tori didn't really eat in the mornings so she went into their bedroom to get her makeup done and fix her hair so she would be ready to go as soon as she had finished off her coffee. It was only ten thirty so she'd have plenty of time to find a proper and flattering dress (plus shoes and accessories – a girl's gotta have her fun!) without getting completely stressed out.

When everything seemed acceptable when she looked in the mirror, Tori turned to the clock by her bed and saw that there was twenty minutes until the next bus where there. It was just down the street from her flat so it wouldn't take five minutes to go there. She made sure she had everything she needs, found the proper shopping shoes, and went outside for the second time today.

Despite everything – she really was in a good mood today. Of course she was, a day of shopping even for a serious lawyer like her, was always enough to make her happy. She thought about the restaurant to eat lunch at as she took her time walking down the sidewalk, but she couldn't really decide because there was so many different ones. She would have to go to one of the ones Beck didn't enjoy because the other ones they regularly went to.

As she arrived at the bus stop, she saw the bus in the distance and was glad she made it without actually having to run this time and almost bounced into a filled bus behind a teenage couple (who were clearly skipping school) and an old lady. She looked around the isles between the seats and hated that these city busses had fewer sits than the regular busses. It just sucked but it had room for their babies. When the couple and the old woman had taken a seat, Tori could only see one vacant seat in the back of the bus, and as it took off, she made her way down there while keeping herself steady by grabbing the seats.

A woman with raven black hair was sitting in the seat near the isle and Tori figured she'd just ask her to scoot over and everything would be fine. It was sort of a long drive through the city because L.A. was so big she really didn't want to stand up the entire ride. When she stopped in front of the seat, the raven haired woman looked up and Tori locked eyes with her; surprised. She had never seen such green eyes before, it was kind of breathtaking.

"Can I help you?" the woman asked with a kind smile, and Tori couldn't help but think that this woman was one of the most beautiful persons she had ever met – no lie. There was just something about her, and it struck the Latina, even if she had just known of this woman's existence for about thirty seconds.

At first, Tori didn't answer, but then she blinked slightly and finally said, "I eh… I was just wondering if I could have a seat?" She couldn't help but giggle slightly after her sentence because she had never seemed more foolish in her own eyes – today really wasn't a good day for her, it seemed.

The raven haired woman smiled warmly at her, "But of course!" she cheered, and reached for her bag that had been lying on the seat next to the window. She then took hold of the side of the seat and stood up.

"No, no, I…" she smiled at the woman in front of her because this woman was sweet and she rarely experienced it these days. "I don't have to have _that _seat-" she motioned for the window seat, silently hoping she really would just scoot over, because for some reason, Tori hated the window seat. "- you can just move over. That's totally fine."

The raven haired woman paused for a second before she looked up at Tori with glistening green eyes, "But I don't like sitting by the window." She whispered, a playful smile across her flawless face.

Tori paused, "Me neither." She then revealed, before the both of them broke into a fit of laughters.

A few second later, the raven haired woman moved away from the seat totally and held out her hands in a playful manner while her face was supporting a smirk, so Tori would know where to go. "I was here first." She teased her with a saying look in her eyes, and Tori knew that she was correct, so she moved in, sat down and placed her handbag on her lap.

"I'll just have to focus my attention elsewhere then," Tori said as she watched the other woman sit down on her original seat.

The other woman looked at her with a smirk and offered her hand while saying, "I'm Jade by the way."

Tori couldn't help but grin. She held Jade's outstretched hand and shook it once. Deciding to get back at her she said, "Hi Jade by the way, I'm Tori."

Jade couldn't help but raised an eyebrow. She didn't comment on the joke, instead she leaned her head back and said, "So where are you getting off? If I have to entertain you, I'll have to make sure my stop is not before yours."

Tori focused her entire attention on Jade because if she turned to look at the window, she will surely puke. "I have my entire day devoted to shopping."

"Wow." The raven haired woman said and let her green eyes go big, "Me too!" she then laughed. "I usually hate malls. They are overly crowdy and all that. But, yeah. I need to go shopping."

Tori had never thought it would be so easy to talk to a complete stranger but she actually found it nice and kind of familiar to talk to this woman. It was strange, but she liked it and she was certain it will be a good ride to the mall. "What are you shopping for? My best friend is getting married on Sunday and I really need a new dress."

Jade moved slightly in her seat and popped both knees onto the seat infront of her and rested comfortably, "I'm in L.A to help my best friend and her husband out with this job they're doing. I have to get a new dress for that. I live in New York, originally I am from here, but work's there, so…" she trailed off.

"What do you work with?" Tori quickly asked. She didn't know what it was, but she just wanted to talk to this woman and get to know more about her. She was intrigued.

Jade looked around slightly and leaned in closer, "I'm an actress."

Tori pulled back slightly and searched her face. If she was an actress, she should recognize her somehow. Mentally scanning every movie she had seen recently, she tried to see if she can remember her but couldn't, no matter which movie she went through.

"You're trying to place me, aren't you?" Jade questioned, a glint in her eyes.

Tori immediately felt bad for doing that. Perhaps Jade hadn't gotten her big break yet and therefore Tori hadn't seen her in anything. _Nice one, just make a complete stranger fell bad, Tori Vega, _she scolded herself. "Yeah…" she softly trailed off.

Jade smirked once again and laughed lowly, "You can't do that. I don't do movies. I'm on Broadway."

Tori almost felt her eyes pop out of her head by the new information. Jade seemed quite young, but at this rate nothing would surprise her with this woman – she seemed capable of anything, Tori was sure of that. "Broadway? Wow!" she gushed.

Jade bit her lip and had a passionate look in her eyes for a few seconds. "It was always theatre, really, or no acting for me. Being a movie-actress wasn't gonna do it. I was the stage or nothing." She explained in a deep voice. Suddenly, she seemed to bounce back, "But what about you? What do you work with?"

"I work at a law firm." Tori explained and felt like a complete bore next to the amazing woman. "I went to Standford and I could probably find something much better if my boyfriend would just allow me to move town. He has to stay here because he runs his deceased-father's business, y'know?"

Jade nodded her head, "I always found law so exciting. I mean – just imagine, you're fighting against evil in this country. You should be proud."

Tori had never really looked at it that way, but she felt herself blush slightly at Jade's compliments. At least she didn't feel so boring after all. "Thank you," Tori then said softly.

Jade waved it off, "No problem. Sometimes I need my best friend to tell me what I do has importance as well. You know like, when there's one evening when I screw up and I started doubting my entire career. I always just call her and she starts talking to make me feel better. I think it's just life."

The only thing Tori wanted to comment on about that, was this, "Wow! Who's your best friend?"

Jade laughed. "She's a pretty great woman, Cat. Although, I sometimes question her mentality. She still lives here. She and her husband was an odd couple but their relationship was pretty much inspiring. Now, they have a small business and two children. They've been together since high school."

Tori smiled, "That's wonderful. Seem almost perfect."

"Seem is the keyword."

Tori quickly gazed out the window to see how far they were and was surprised to realized how quickly time had went by in this woman's company. She turned back to Jade and felt like a suggestion, "Hey? If you're looking for a dress and I'm looking for a dress, why don't we look for a dress together?"

Jade winked at her, "I'd really like that."

The bus came to a stop and Jade got off of her seat so they could get out and into fresh air. Safely on the ground where Tori was so sure they really belonged, she said, "What are you looking for?"

"I don't know." Jade explained as they took off down the sidewalk; there was a couple of mintues walk to the mall. "I own so many dresses, but they almost seem to formal for the job. I'm not quite sure though. Cat said something black, since that's what they're wearing anyway. And black suits me best."

Tori laughed, "Well," she said, "let's just see what we can find."

… … … …

"Oh, that's rich!" Jade laughed as she stared at Tori through the mirror – she had nervously entered the dressing room Jade was changing in because she needed an opinion; but, as she saw Jade's face in the mirror, she couldn't help but laugh herself.

That dress was not flattering on her… on anyone really, Tori suspected.

She made a face, "I think I need to take this off, don't you?"

Jade nodded stiffly in the mirror and moved a hand up to brush her hair back; exposing her neck. It caused Tori to pause on her way out and really look into the mirror. Jade was dressed in a black dress, simple and elegant; it went to about her knees, had a little bit of this and that underneath which made it flow nicely, it clung to her upper body beautifully and Tori felt like she could look at her forever.

Jade turned around and look at her with a glint in her eyes, "This is good, is it not?"

"If you don't but it I might have to kill you." Was Tori's response, before she giggled lightly and brushed Jade's bare shoulder with her hand. It felt weird to be comfortable with someone she had just met, but it was nice… she felt really awesome being with Jade. It was like when she first met Beck – an instant connection, chemistry like never before. It was just weird to experience it with another female; plus, she kind of still had Beck.

Jade's back did a squirm beneath her fingernail and the raven haired beauty paused, still looking at her with intensity, "Before you do anything to make me want you, I think you should know that I'm a lesbian."

Tori's hand fell from Jade's ivory skin to hang by her own side. She had no problems with gay people, she just didn't know what to do about Jade. She felt so weirdly attracted to her and it had never happened before with a woman before. She didn't just fall for people, she wasn't just attracted to them, but for some reason even if she had a loving boyfriend at home, she still wanted to close the door to this dressing room, push Jade against the wall and do things she had never thought she'd do.

She sighed though and took a step back; no ruining her relationship today – she would never see Jade after this and it wasn't worth it, it couldn't be worth it, "Okay." She took another step and was outside and then swallowed loudly, "I'm just gonna go change."

Jade reached out for her hand and therefore stopped her. Their eyes locked and the raven haired lass gave her a look, "You've got a boyfriend and I want to fuck you so bad… it's not a good combo." She laughed nervously, laughter rolling off her tongue.

Tori blinked. "No, not really." She said sternly. Tori found this situation so unbelievable weird that she almost couldn't handle it.

"How about I get out of this dress and help you find one as well?" Jade suggested, finally dropping Tori's hand (but the Latina still didn't move), "Today has been great so far, and I'd really like to continue to have fun… I-I have a girlfriend anyway."

Tori like the idea. She wasn't sure how to feel about it; knowing that they both wanted to explore this quick and needy attraction, knowing that it would be so easy to go to her apartment because Beck wasn't there, knowing that she could try it out with this strange woman and then go back to her safe haven when she was done. She wasn't sure about anything about this woman but it was probably the best idea to just try to act like friends and just forget the attraction they had for each other, just go shopping and have fun.

She swallowed again and said, "I saw a red one in the other end of the store. I think I'm gonna go get that one."

Jade didn't move, "Red'll look good on you." She just said, before she closed the door between them to change and Tori got a whiff of air in her face because of the quick movement.

She stood there for a few seconds, not quite ready to snap out of it. She was just struck by the entire day, the way everything seemed to happen so fast, to change her so quickly in ways she wasn't sure she wanted to be changed. She closed her eyes and breathed softly in, ready to act normal and go get dress. But as she opened them again, Jade was right in front of her; all dressed in her own clothes, jacket thrown across one arm, bag in the other.

"What the crap are you doing?" she questioned, wonderment written across her face.

Tori almost jumped in the air in surprise, but instead she shook her head, "How the fuck did you change so quickly?"

Jade made a face, saying that clearly Tori was nuts, "I'm an actress, duh. We have to change very fast at times. That was like… super-slow for me."

Tori shook her head once more and turned around to go find the red dress, Jade stopped her though.

"I'll go find it. You go get out of that one." She ordered in a snappy voice and loaded all her stuff into Tori's arms, and the poor Latina stumbled into her changing room as Jade went off to find the dress. She dropped Jade's things on the floor and turned around to guide herself through to mirror and to the zipper. She got the zipper down and squirmed out of the dress; letting it drop to the floor, not minding if it got dirty – it was ugly anyway.

She heard a knock on the door and opened it slightly, afraid to expose herself fully to Jade; afraid to ruin something – even if she wasn't sure what. Jade seemed to be thinking alike though, because she gently got the dress through the small crack and when Tori had it in her hand, she slipped her arm out and let the door fall shut.

Tori kept quiet and changed into the red dress quickly as possible. When she had it on, she studied her own appearance in the mirror for a few seconds and nodded to herself in approval – she looked good. Red had always been a good color on her, as Jade so quickly had seen right before. She turned around and checked her backside in the mirror too (also awesome), before she grabbed the handle and pulled the door open. Jade immediately looked up with a wide grin on her face.

Tori spun around a couple of times and Jade let her eyes search Tori completely; which when Tori had gotten used to it at first, actually felt pretty nice. Jade then crossed her arms in front of her chest and said, "Nice, Tori. I think you should wear this to the wedding."

Tori looked down herself and tried to get control of her smile, before she looked up again, "I look nice, don't I?"

"Very." Jade firmly agreed.

Tori thought about it for yet another second as she turned to look at herself in the mirror of the fitting room. There was something about this dress. It was just so perfect for her. She turned back to Jade with a glint in her eye, "How about I change back, we go pay and then get something to eat."

Jade nodded immediately, "Deal." She said before she teasingly checked her watch and pointed at one of the chairs for the husbands who were dragged to watch their wives try on clothes for two hours, "I think I'll just take a seat then. Who knows how slow you'll be changing back?"

Tori reached out to hit her, but only caught the air, before she went into the changing room again, grinning madly. She couldn't help herself. Even if she wasn't supposed to, she felt herself like Jade more and more – and that definitely wasn't good at all…

… was it?

… … … …

So lunch was kind of… different. Yeah, yeah, different was the word for it. Tori had thought that maybe Jade would have wanted to go some place fancy, but instead she had said she wanted to go to this pizza place that she and her younger brother used to go to all the time when she was in high school.

So there they were – eating lunch.

Tori had never really been much of a pizza eater, but this pizza tasted kind of nice. And it was enjoyable having lunch with Jade because she quickly learned that she wasn't bored with her at all.

Right now, Jade was glancing around the entire place, while chewing loudly on her pizza slice. Tori cocked her eyebrows together and shot Jade a funny look when Jade turned her head that way.

"What?" Jade questioned and dropped the slice to her place, "I mean… No one knows me here. If I was in movies I couldn't have been here with you like this – and I definitely couldn't eat like this, so I might as well enjoy that I can."

Tori chuckled and reached for a French fry from the plate they shared together, "You're so weird."

Jade shrugged, "Soon enough I might not be able to."

Tori chewed and said, "What do you mean?"

Jade took three fries at once and stuffed them into her mouth, followed by a big sip of coke, "I've been talking with my agent about getting out a record. The soundtracks I did for Chicago and Wicked have been pretty successful, and a record has always been another dream of mine."

Tori placed her elbows on the table and couldn't help but listen intensely as Jade spoke. Was there anything this woman can't do? _Sure, be on Broadway, no prob! You want to do a record? That sounds like fun!_ Tori couldn't really comprehend that anyone had a life like that. "Really? What do you wanna sing?"

"Ballads, mostly, I think." Jade said and looked into her plate, "I mean… I've only done show tunes, so far. But I think that I could really do it, y'know?"

Tori stuck out her tongue, "I wouldn't know, I haven't heard you sing – but it seems likely that you could." She teased her. It was the truth though; was there really anything that Jade couldn't do?

Jade bowed her head, "Thank you."

That caused Tori to giggle again because she simply couldn't help herself. Jade smiled widely from across the table, but looked down when her phone started ringing. Tori stopped laughing and reached for another slice of pizza as Jade got a phone out of her bag.

"The best friend." She quickly explained before hitting the green button with a roll of her eyes and said, "What's up? I'm at the mall with Tori. Why?" She paused and held out her hand and moved the fingers together and apart as to explain to Tori that her best friend talk a hell lot. "Tori is… Tori…" another pause, "I don't know. I just met her." She paused yet again. "Oh really? I'll go outside right now." And then she hung up her phone and threw it in her bag.

Tori already knew that she had to leave, she could tell so by the conversation she'd just heard one part of, but still she said, "What?" because she didn't really want it to be true – she wanted to spend more time with Tori, she didn't want this day to end so soon.

Jade shot her an apologetic smile, "I have to go meet Cat right now. We have to pick up her kids. I promised them yesterday to spend some time with them."

Tori nodded softly, quickly bummed out because of the news, but she knew that it couldn't be different. Of course Jade wouldn't want to blow off her best friend's kids because of a woman she had just met. "No need to explain. I had a nice time today…"

Jade pulled her wallet out of her purse and placed a bunch of cash on the table, "That should cover lunch." She said, and before Tori could object because she wanted to pay her own food, she continued, "I want to, I do. You've made my day much better, so thank you."

Tori closed her mouth and leaned back in her chair, watching the other woman as she pushed her chair back, got on her jacket and got a hold of all her things. She stood up then to give the other woman a proper good bye. "So yeah… Good bye Jade by the way." She couldn't help but say.

Jade smiled lovingly at her and leaned in close, "Good bye Tori." She whispered before she pulled the other woman to a short kiss; quickly, wonderfully. Tori did have time to soak in her dream before it was gone and Jade winked at her. "I just had to do that, I just did." She said before she stroked Tori across her prominent cheek, turned around and left the restaurant.

Tori sat down awestruck with a gentle smile on her face.

… … … …

_When love has its magic, it's called destiny; when destiny has its sense of humor, it's called serendipity._

- _Serendipty (2001)_

… … … …

**_A/N: _**_Hey there people of the universe! This is a new collab I'm doing with my great friend indomitusamore (it's her Tumblr username. Follow her! She's gay! Hehe). It's a story playing in her mind lately and I helped her write it (I mostly edited and posted it here because her fanfiction account is still new, thus she's not yet allowed to post stuff)._

_Anyway, we'll greatly appreciate reviews and follows. Thank you._

_Ps. The next chapter for Skipping Ten Years Ahead is still in the oven._


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